Diary of two mad authors….

Menu

Archive | June 2014

Today we are spotlighting G Mitchell Baker and his latest YA release, Soccer Tommies Baseball Mommies! The official release party is July 1st, from 5 – 7 pm CST. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/events/758249420881808/ We hope you will join us tomorrow. What a great time it will be. There are some great prizes and the games are always fun!! If you have kids in your life, or anyone who is a sports enthusiast, then this is the book for them!! Here’s a bit about Mitch and his latest masterpiece.

AUTHOR BIO & LINKS

Soccer Tommies Baseball Mommies is G Mitchell Baker’s ninth book and his first foray writing for Preteens. When he’s not writing, Mitch he enjoys cycling and exploring for original and interesting things wherever he travels. While working on a future projects Mitch can be found:

A tornado devastated a small town, and left one playing field for the Soccer Tommies and Baseball Mommies to compete over for home field advantage. Kids learn that the Win-Win doesn’t always happen, you think you gotta’ win.

BLURB FOR SOCCER TOMMIES BASEBALL MOMMIES

Emotions are at a high point after ‘Old Luke’ hits the town of Belleville. Building’s and lives are destroyed and the Fabiano twins, Teddy and Terri, find themselves in a fight to the finish to see who’s team will win the right to the only ball field left within a hundred miles.
What the kids and everyone around them learns is that the ‘home field advantage’ is not something you win. It’s more about working together and becoming a real team. Soccer Tommies, Baseball Mommies is a clever little book about kids and the true meaning of winning.

Incantation is Linda Bolton’s second book. Take 2 is her first novel and is available on Amazon and Barnes & Nobel. When she’s not writing, Linda is a GiGi, playing with her new granddaughter Z, and working full-time. While working on a future projects Linda can be found:

Christina’s life revolved around work. Not because she was so career driven, a good man was just hard to come by.

Tristen’s life was his work. It was easier than a relationship…so were one night stands.

What happens when Christina has to do a story for her magazine on Tristen? Will sparks fly? Will she fall under his spell? Can two people who are so different, living in different states, find love and happiness?

Blurb for Take 2:

Alexandra Daniels is a forty-something, hard-working mom, wife and employee. Her life has been plodding along at a snails pace and she’s longing for excitement. She wins a trip to her favorite talk show in New York, the Veronica Becker Show, and it just so happens the actor of her dreams is a guest, Derek Dunbar! Is Alex’s life about to change?

Derek Dunbar is Scottish, an actor and a hunk! Every woman in America drools after him. He has his pick of women but stinks at relationships. At forty, is he longing for a more meaningful relationship? Does he even know how to have one? Is he willing to make the effort or will it just be too complicated?

Welcome to this weeks WOW Author Spotlight! Our good friend Doug is with us today. Woot!! He has a new book, out this Saturday, called “The Boy From Buzby Beach.” Doug has written three other books (links at the bottom of this post) and has a dedicated following. This Saturday, from 3 – 4 pm EDT, you are invited to help us launch this great book by joining our Facebook launch party at this link: http://dld.bz/ds5q6

Without further ado, here is the skinny on Author Douglas Davis!!!

Douglas Davis Bio:

DW Davis is an independent author of young adult romance novels told from the guy’s perspective. DW’s writing reflects his memories of growing up along the North Carolina coast near Wrightsville and Carolina Beaches. DW left that area when he graduated high school and traveled half-way around the world and back collecting memories and experiences which help shape his characters. Now back in eastern North Carolina, DW enjoys bringing to life characters whose adventures take place in his favorite part of the world.

GREAT COVER!!!

The Boy From Buzby Beach Synopsis

The Boy from Buzby Beach

DW Davis

Synopsis

The book opens with the main character, Jacques O’Larrity, a fifteen year old boy with unruly black hair, fussing about having to rise before dawn on the first morning of summer vacation to open his mother’s coffee shop. His mother, a single mom since Jacques was three, thinks Jacques is old enough to start taking on more responsibility. The Parisian Bean is located on the sound side of Buzby Island in the town of Buzby Beach. In the first chapter we meet several Buzby Island residents, long-term and newcomers, from the bakery delivery truck driver who actually owns the bakery to the daughter of the couple that bought the bar next door to the coffee shop and turned it into an ice cream shop.

Jacques goes through a short-lived crush on Ginger Mumples, the girl from the ice cream shop next door, before he meets and falls for Scarlett, a girl from the western part of the state visiting her sister in Wilmington. Scarlett is mildly disfigured from a car accident, but Jacques doesn’t notice Scarlett’s scars. He’s captivated by her eyes and good humor. Scarlett’s father, who objects to her seeing a local beach bum, comes and takes her home, leaving Jacques broken hearted.

Meanwhile, Jacques childhood summer friend, Cienna, the granddaughter of the owners of the bookstore across the street from the coffee shop, arrives on the island for her extended summer visit. While the two have known each other for years, they’ve never seen each other as anything but friends during her previous summers on the island. When she arrives and finds Jacques in puppy love with Scarlett, Cienna’s hopes for a summer of romance with Jacques appear dashed until Scarlett is removed from the picture.

While his love life is in turmoil, Jacques hears from his estranged father, Sean O’Larrity, absent these twelve years. Sean – grown up, sober, and somewhat successful as a motivational speaker – wants to reconnect with his son. Jacques has to decide whether to see his father and if he does, whether to let Sean back in his life.

Sean presses the issue by showing up at the coffee shop, leading to a tense confrontation between Sean on one side, and Jacques, Scout–a quiet Afghan War vet who watches over Jacques and Marie, and Joe Bagley–the bakery truck driver on the other. Sean backs down and leaves after telling Jacques to think about coming to see him.

With Scarlett gone and his dad in town, Jacques finds Cienna a comforting presence and the two of them grow closer as friends. On the day Jacques decides to go face Sean, they share their first kiss.

As the book concludes, an uneasy truce is achieved between Jacques’s mother and father. Jacques agrees to keep in touch with Sean and to give him the chance to earn back the title, Dad. Jacques and Cienna find the summer love both had hoped to find in each other and when Cienna’s visit ends, Jacques learns that she won’t be gone long. Her father is retiring from the military and moving to the island to take over the bookstore. Cienna will be back in time for school. The book ends with Jacques standing at the foot of the stairs to Cienna’s grandparents’ apartment, promising to wait for her.

The Boy From Buzby Beach Excerpt (from Chapter One)

A stiff sea breeze ruffled Jacques’ shaggy black hair as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and tried to focus on getting the key into the lock on the front door of his mother’s coffee shop.

So far, the first day of summer vacation wasn’t much of one. His alarm went off at four in the morning so he could drag his butt out of bed and open the coffee shop for his mother. Since he’d turned fifteen two weeks before school let out, his mother decided Jacques could be responsible for opening the shop.

The Parisian Bean, referred to as The Bean by its regulars, opened for business at six in the morning, six days a week. Jacques’ mom, Marie Babineaux O’Larrity, was usually in the cafe by five. The bakery that provided most of her pastries and bread dropped off every morning at five-thirty. Some specialty confections Marie baked herself. Jacques even baked a popular selection of spritz cookies. Marie let him keep the profit from those.

“Finally,” Jacques said when the key slipped into the lock. He had to twist the key a little, jiggle the knob a couple of times, and twist the key the rest of the way before the door opened.

“I wish Mom would get this stupid lock fixed.” Jacques pushed the door open, pushed his glasses up his nose, breathed deep of the scent of roast coffee permeating the cafe, and stepped inside.

His hand absently searched for the light switch next to the door. The bright light coming from the chandelier that his mother had put over the sitting area caused him to squint against the glare.

“Ouch, that’s bright. Stupid light.”

Once his eyes adjusted to the light, Jacques turned, locked the door, and made sure the shade was pulled down. Then he rolled his eyes, pulled back the shade, and made sure the “CLOSED” sign was turned out toward the street.

“Stupid sign.”

Growing up the son of a coffee shop proprietor, Jacques was never himself until he’d had his first cup of coffee. He didn’t know for sure, but Jacques suspected his mother had filled his baby bottles with café latte.

Assured the “CLOSED” sign was indeed visible to any early risers, Jacques made a bee line for the espresso machine. With an expert touch born of years of experience, he’d been making espresso since he could reach the counter, Jacques made himself a Buzby Bucket sized caramel macchiato. The Parisian Bean was the only place in town where a person could get a 32 ounce cup of coffee. It wasn’t cheap, but it was one of their best sellers during the summer tourist season.

“Mmm,” Jacques moaned as the first warm, smooth, taste of the macchiato coated his throat and his body reacted to the promise of caffeine. As his mind reacted to the stimulant, the world didn’t seem so stupid anymore.

Who am I? Our archivists need your help identifying the man in the middle of this photo who appears in several photos here at the JFK Library! This photo was taken on April 11, 1961 following the White House News Photographers Association Competition. #TriviaTuesday